ANTIBACTERIAL AND ENHANCED SELF-CLEANING PROPERTIES OF NEW MORTARS ADDITIVATED WITH NANOPARTICLES

Created in: 2020-12-07 Share:   

ANTIBACTERIAL AND ENHANCED SELF-CLEANING PROPERTIES OF NEW
MORTARS ADDITIVATED WITH NANOPARTICLES – Acronym MORCLEAN

Programme 2 of PN III: Increasing the competitiveness of the Romanian economy through research, development and innovation
Subprogramme 2.1: Competitiveness through research, development and innovation
Project type: Experimental – demonstration project
Acronim: MORCLEAN
Contract 504PED / 2020
Funding Agency: UEFISCDI ROMANIA

PARTNERS

  1. NATIONAL R&D INSTITUTE FOR NON-ERROUS AND RARE METALS – IMNR, Pantelimon – Coordinator
  2. CEPROCIM S.A., Bucharest – Partner

Project Objective is to develop innovative materials based on cement mortar and nanostructured powders (such as zinc oxide/silica (ZnO/SiO2), zinc oxide /titanium dioxide (ZnO/TiO2) and/or zinc oxide/hydroxyapatite (ZnO/HAp)), with antibacterial and self-cleaning properties, to be used for the long-term maintenance of clean spaces. These materials have the capability of prevention in regard to the apparition of bacteria or fungi or other microorganisms, especially in schools, hospitals and public buildings.

Specific Objectives :

  1. The development of innovative nanostructured materials within the domain of intelligent specialization;
  2. Obtaining new cement mortar with photocatalytic and antibacterial properties;
  3. Demonstrating the model functionality at the laboratory level TRL 3;
  4. Elaboration of a roadmap for technology transfer.

1st STAGE

In the first stage of the project based on literature data and following the modeling of process and material, the working conditions necessary for the realization of hydrothermal syntheses were established in order to obtain nanostructured materials based on zinc oxide.
In the next stage of the project, activities for the synthesis of nanostructured materials are foreseen. To this end, in the first stage of the project, corroborating the literature data with the RENAR accredited methods of analysis existing in the institute, the work plan and the steps to be taken for the characterization of nanostructured materials were established.
Synthesis of zinc oxide-based nanostructured materials will be autoclaved at controlled pressures and temperatures. In order to select the most suitable synthesis parameters, a process modeling was performed for each material variant with controlled properties.
Based on the thermodynamic study, the synthesis parameters were established: temperature and pressure.
By combining the data from the Pourbaix diagrams (made with the HSC Chemistry 8 Thermochemical Software) with the results obtained by titrating with the precipitating agent the mixture of precursor soluble salts for each compound, the optimal working pH was established.
Some of the methods selected for the characterization of nanostructured materials obtained by hydrothermal syntheses are inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry – ICP-OES, flame atomic absorption spectrometry – FAAS, volumetric and gravimetric chemistry – for the determination of chemical composition, electron microscopy S -EDX, optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction -DRX, measurement of contact angle, determination of particle size- morphological and structural characterization, UV-VIS spectrometry, thermal analysis to determine thermal behavior in controlled mode DSC, ATD / TG, surface determination -BET specific.
The self-cleaning properties are evaluated by photocatalysis tests performed with UV light sources – similar to sunlight.
Partner 1 selected and established nanomaterial-free mortar compositions and methods for their characterization, as well as raw materials.
Based on the literature data, standards and regulations in the field, 3 compositions of nanopowder-free mortars were established, as well as 8 compositions of nanopowder-free mortars, in different percentages of composition. The raw materials used were characterized in terms of physical and chemical properties.


2nd STAGE

Based on the studies performed in 1st stage, the parameters of hydrothermal synthesis for the three types of nanostructured materials based on zinc oxide were established.
For each of the three types of materials, at least four percentage compositions were hydrothermally synthesized, and the obtained powders were characterized in terms of chemical, morphological and structural properties. Following the analysis of the characterization results, two of these compositions were initially selected and sent to partner P1 for the production of nanoparticle mortars. Preliminary self-cleaning tests were performed on some nanoparticle and non-nanoparticle mortars.
Partner 1 performed in step 2, as selected in step 1, three compositions of nanopowder-free mortars and 8 compositions of nanopowder-free mortars, which were characterized in terms of physical-mechanical and chemical properties.
The compositions of nanopowder mortar were different both by the type of materials used in their production and by the percentages between them. Partner 1 performed several samples of materials both for the specific tests of the mortars and for the self-cleaning tests performed by the coordinator.


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